"Are you cold?"
"No. I – I want to thank you for saving my life."
"Are you sure? Your position is not quite vertical."
Surprised, she glanced his way. The corner of his mouth was lifted. His eyes were glimmering with humor. The rascal was teasing her about the fuss she'd made earlier. But even a vertical position had proven dangerous with him. Her cheeks grew warm, remembering their near kiss. "Are you hungry?
I could make you a sandwich."
The gleam in his eyes grew more intense. "I'll wait."
"Okay." She rose and took her empty plate and glass to the sink. This might have been a mistake.
Now she was only a few feet away from him. What was it about this guy that made her want to throw herself into his arms? She rinsed out her glass. "I – I know who you are."
He moved back a step. "What do you know?"
"I know you're the owner of Romatech Industries. I know you're the one who invented the formula for synthetic blood. You've saved millions of lives around the world." She turned the water off and gripped the edge of the counter. "I think you're absolutely brilliant."
When he didn't respond, she chanced a look at him. He was staring at her with a stunned expression.
Good God, didn't he know he was brilliant?
Frowning, he turned away. "I'm not what you think."
She smiled. "You mean you're not intelligent? I admit- wanting to sport a wolf tooth in your gorgeous smile is not the brightest idea I've ever heard."
"It's not a wolf tooth."
"It's not a human tooth." She cocked her head, studying him. "Did you really lose a tooth? Or did you just show up like Prince Valiant to rescue me and whisk me away on your noble steed?"
His mouth twitched. "It's been many years since I owned a noble steed."
"And I suppose your armor is a bit rusty?"
"Yes, it is."
She leaned toward him. "But you're still a hero."
His smile, faint as it was, faded away completely. "No, I'm not. I really do need a dentist. See?" He lifted the corner of his mouth with a forefinger.
There was a gap where his right canine should be. "When did you lose it?"
"A few hours ago."
"Then it may not be too late. That is, if you have the real tooth."
"I do. Well, actually, Laszlo has it."
"Oh." She stepped closer and rose up on her toes. "May I?"
"Yes." He lowered his head.
She shifted her gaze from his eyes to his mouth. Her heart pounded in her chest. She touched his cheeks, then lifted her fingertips. "I'm not wearing gloves."
"I don't mind."
Neither do I. Good God, she'd examined a lot of mouths in the last few years, but it had never felt like this. She lightly touched his lips. Wide, sensual lips. "Open."
He did. She slipped a finger inside and examined the gap. "How did you lose it?"
"Aah."
"Sorry." She smiled. "I have a bad habit of asking questions when the patient can't talk." She started to remove her finger, but his lips closed around it. She glanced at his eyes and instantly felt surrounded by their golden intensity. Slowly, she dragged her finger out. Good God. Her knees weakened. She had a vision of herself sliding down his body to collapse on the floor. She would reach up to him and say, "Take me, you fool."
He touched her face. "Do I get a turn?"
"Hmm?" She could hardly hear with her heart pounding in her ears.
His gaze dropped to her mouth. He skimmed his thumb over her bottom lip.
The kitchen door swung open. "I'm back," Gregori announced. He looked them over and grinned.
"Am I interrupting something?"
"Yes. My life." Roman glared at him. "Go to my office. Connor is waiting for you."
"Fine." Gregori headed out the door. "My mom's out here, waiting. And Laszlo's ready."
"I understand." Roman straightened his shoulders and gave Shanna a bland look. "Come."
"Excuse me?" Shanna watched him march out the door. Of all the nerve. So it was back to business, then? He'd opened up a bit, but now, he was back to being the big boss man.
Well, if he thought he could order her around, he was sadly mistaken. She took her time, buttoning her lab coat. Then she grabbed her purse off the table and stalked after him.
He stood at the base of the staircase, talking to an older woman. She wore an expensive gray business suit and sported a purse that was worth some people's monthly salary. Her hair was mostly black, though a silver streak ran from her left temple to disappear into the bun at the nape of her neck. She noted Shanna's approach with a lift of her perfectly arched brows.
Roman turned. "Shanna, this is Gregori's mother and my personal assistant, Radinka Holstein."
"How do you do?" Shanna extended a hand.
Radinka looked her over for a moment. Just when Shanna thought the woman was going to refuse to shake hands, she suddenly smiled and gave Shanna's hand a tight squeeze. "At last, you have come."
Shanna blinked, not sure how to respond.
Radinka's smile widened, and she switched her gaze to Roman, then to Shanna, then back to
Roman. "I'm so happy for you both."
Roman crossed his arms and scowled at the woman.
She touched Shanna on the shoulder. "If there is anything you need, you let me know. I'm either here or at Romatech every night."
"You work at night?" Shanna asked.
"The facility is open 24/7, but I prefer the night shift." Radinka waved a hand in the air, her perfect fingernails painted a glossy, dark red. "The day shift is far too noisy, all those trucks coming and going. You can hardly hear yourself think."
"Oh."
Radinka adjusted her purse in the crook of her elbow and looked at Roman. "Was there anything else you needed?"
"No. I'll see you tomorrow." He turned to go up the stairs. "Come, Shanna."
Sit. Bark. Roll over. She glared at his back.
Radinka chuckled, and even that sounded exotic and foreign. "Do not worry, dear. All will be fine.
We will talk again soon."
"Thanks. It was nice to meet you." Shanna went up a few steps. Where was Roman taking her?
Hopefully, he was just showing her to a guest room. But if Laszlo had his tooth, she should try to implant it as soon as possible. "Roman?" He was too far ahead of her, already out of sight.
At the first landing, between floors, Shanna paused to look down at the beautiful entryway. Radinka was headed for a pair of closed doors on the right of the foyer. Her gray leather pumps clicked on the polished marble floor. She seemed sort of odd, but then Shanna figured everyone in this house was a little on the strange side. Radinka opened the doors, and the faint sound of a television spilled into the entryway.
"Radinka!" a female voice squealed. "Where is ze master? I zought he would be wiz you." As she continued to speak, her French accent became more apparent.
Another accent? Good God, she was trapped inside the International House of Nutcakes.
'Tell him to come," the French accent continued. "We want to play."
Other female voices joined in, all urging Radinka to fetch the master at once. Shanna snorted. The master. Who the hell was that? He sounded like a male Playmate of the Month.
"Hush, Simone." Radinka sounded angry as she entered the room. "He is busy."
"But I came all ze way from Paris-" The plaintive voice was cut off when Radinka shut the doors.
Weird. Which guy were these ladies wanting? One of the Scotsmen? Yum. She wouldn't mind a peek under a kilt herself.
"Are you coming?" Roman stood on the second floor, glowering down at her.
"Yes." She ascended the stairs, taking her time. "You know, I really appreciate all you've done to ensure my safety."
His frown cleared. "You are welcome."
"So I hope you won't mind that I have a few concerns about your security team."
His brows lifted. He glanced behind him, then gazed at her calmly. "They are the finest security force in the world."
"Well, maybe so, but-" Shanna reached the second floor and there, on the landing behind Roman, was another kilted Highlander.
The Scotsman folded his brawny arms across his broad chest and regarded her sternly. Behind him, on the wall, a series of oil paintings hung, all portraits of richly dressed people who appeared to be glaring at her.
"Would you care to elaborate?" Roman asked quietly, a glint of amusement in his golden-brown eyes.
Damn him. "Well." Shanna cleared her throat. It was a good thing she was a dentist. Every now and then, she had to extract her foot from her mouth. "I must admit that the Scotsmen are all extremely handsome men. Any woman would think so." She noted the Highlander's face softening a bit.
"They're very sharp dressers. Gorgeous legs. And I just adore the way they talk."
Now the Scotsman was starting to smile. "Good save, lass."
"Thank you." She smiled back.
Roman, however, was frowning once again. "Since you obviously consider the guards to be perfect specimens of manhood, then what, pray tell, is your objection?"
Shanna leaned toward him. "It's the weapons. All they have is a little sword at their waist-"
"A Highland dirk," Roman interrupted.
"Yeah, that, and a knife in their sock."
"The sgian dubh," he interrupted once again.